Lights, Camera, Action

In Annette Debo’s literary analysis of Bellocq’s Ophelia, she asserts that it is Ophelia’s “job to become an actor in [the costumer’s] desires.” This notion not only applies to Ophelia in her sex work, but it also applies to her as a subject of photography and in every day life.

Ophelia constantly has to act for the men that pay for her services, morphing to please a costumer’s desires. In the poem Vignette, Trethewey draws a parallel between Ophelia’s profession as a sex worker and that of a circus performer. She states, “Picture her face now as she realizes/that it must have been harder every year,/that the contortionist too, must have ached/ each night in his tent” (Trethewey 47). Ophelia is constantly putting on a show. She contorts into someone she isn’t in order to please her customer, similar to how an entertainer must please a crowd. Concealing her true identity becomes tiresome and degrading, causing Ophelia to come out of her shell at the end of the novel.

In addition to the acting she performs in prostitution, Ophelia must act in order to satisfy Bellocq’s photographical demands. She constantly feels uncomfortable in front of the camera, but puts on a show to make Bellocq believe she is “right for the camera” (Trethewey 42). However, through access to her personal diary, the reader knows that to Ophelia, “all of it [is] contrived” (Trethewey 41). Ophelia is constantly forced to become someone she is not in order to survive in the world. For a majority of the novel, Ophelia is stuck inside the frame of what others would like her to be.

Lastly, even on the streets Ophelia is constantly changing herself in order to gain the acceptance of others. In a letter home, Ophelia writes, “Do I deceive/ anyone? Were they to see my hands, brown/ as your dear face, they’d know I’m not quite/ what I pretend to be” (Trethewey 7). Ophelia feels that she must change her physical appearance in order to be accepted in the world. She is constantly trying to gain the approval of those around her and feels like she is always being looked at.

Debo suggests that Ophelia is always acting in her pursuit to please sex workers, however, I believe acting is a centralized aspect of Ophelia’s life. Whether it is trying to impress a customer, posing for a photo, or simply walking down the street, Ophelia is never content in her own skin. She is always acting to meet the expectations of others, and loses part of herself in this process.